The P.U.L.L || #Wattys2017

Chapter 37: Unlockers Are One

"Yes, yes, she does." Mr Quiller replied. "Joshua and Gladiola are both part of the same key. I made it that way for insurance reasons but the mastermind found it out, along with Emma's advanced coding skills and Rick's brute strength. The four of you should have been the ultimate team that would secure the future of the corporation. Since the four of you were young, we decided to separate you so that you could control your talents for the time to come. It seems like separating you was a grave mistake. If the four of you were together even before the mastermind comes to the scene, you might have had the chance to stop him and foil his plans. But now you're separated, and Joshua and Gladiola aren't together. This is quite a pickle. A miracle is the only thing that could save us from the mastermind, who is now trying to reform the world according to his ideal one where all the people would bow down to him since he could already control the sky, the sea, and the land by using the P.U.L.L."

"What do you mean by Joshua and Gladiola being part of the same key?" Emma curiously asked. She had a lot of questions in her mind but she couldn't bring herself to ask it since the explanation would be long. Right now, I should focus on getting out of here. She told herself.

"I've seen what an unlocker could do, I mean, Rick and I saw it in action and it's powerful enough in itself, why do you need to make two unlockers then?" Emma continued.

"You see, just like in a system, you need a back-up or place where you could store an exact copy of the system. With that, you will always have the data that you need even though the back-up or the original one is exterminated. The only thing that could completely delete you files is by destroying both the system and the back-up. Joshua's unlocker could unlock all tyoes of electronic locks while Gladiola's unlocker is completely linked to Joshua's by means of wireless connectivity. Simply put, Joshua is the system and Gladiola is the back-up. However, there's more to it than that." Mr. Quiller explained.

"Then, how could you explain Rick and, from what I observed, Joshua's superhuman strength? I know that I'm good at programming and hacking since you taught Gladiola and I. But I couldn't think of any training that could make someone have superhuman strength like the two of them." Emma asked. She was quite curious about this matter and now that she found a chance to ask it, she finally did, hoping that she could find the answer.

"T-that is something I couldn't explain." Mr. Quiller shakily replied. "I'm afraid I'm not in the position to answer that question. Or rather, I couldn't answer that question myself."

The adults suddenly became quite at the mention of Rick and Joshua's superhuman strength. Rick and Emma thought that it's highly likely a secret that the grown-ups couldn't bring to a casual conversation. Emma roughly had an idea on how Rick and Joshua became like that, but she also knew that what she was thinking is impossible. She could only accept that Rick and Joshua were born with it.

Emma and Rick would like to know the answer themselves though. The answer to the secret that the adults were hiding.

It's probably a terrifying secret.

.....

Zap!

IN a split second, the patrolling guard fell down on a slump on the pristine white floor like a useless pile of meat. A soft thud could be heard echoing around the hallway as the guard groaned in the midst of his unconsciousness. Fortunately, Joshua was able to control the output of the taser. The guard just fell unconscious, much to his relief. The guard didn't get electrocuted to death.

Hearing the soft thud, the guard who was sleeping just a moment ago jolted upright and immediately readied his gun, Unfortunately, he didn't know what happened after that.

A flash of light, mixed with the sudden vibration of his body, was the second to the last thing that he perceived before he fell unconscious. The last thing that he saw was the patrol guard, slumped on the floor.

Joshua didn't waste anytime after that. He knew that two unconscious guards will be noticed by the security sooner or later especially if they have...

Security Cameras!

Joshua immediately got all the weapons that both of the guards were carrying. After breaking their radios, Joshua made sure that the tasers were in his pockets. He hurriedly shoved both the guards in his cell and locked it.

A split second later, the security alarm broke off in the whole area.

I should remain my cool even though they know where I am. Joshua inwardly said to himself he panicked. On second thoughts, I think I'll resort to the guns. That's my last straw and it seems like I need to use it to blast off the security cameras.

It was Joshua's first time handling a gun but he knows how to use it. I've watched too many videos about combat training after all. I hope I could pull this off.

After balancing the SA80 Rifle on his hands, he carefully aimed at one off the security cameras. Without thinking twice, he bit his lip as he pulled the rack. He knew that he's one step away from firing it.

Fire.

A continuous barrage of bullets volleyed towards the wall as Joshua was hit by the constant recoil. Joshua ignored the recoil as he aimed at the security camera once again.The hail of bulets miraculously hit one of the security camera squarely, much to his relief.

 One more to go! Joshua said to himself.

Another camera was blown to bits soon after that. 

But how do I stop this thing?! Joshua panicked. Oh yeah, I just need to let go of the trigger. How could I forget that.

The constant volley of bullets stopped, not because Joshua let go of the trigger, but because the rounds were completely empty. Joshua heaved a sigh of relief as he brought the gun down. His eardrums were still ringing due to the loud shots of the gun a moment ago.

But he couldn't just rest easy. The alarms were getting louder and louder!